Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.
In his reform, the minister takes advantage of the conversion of weeks worked into hours worked to reduce still further eligibility for benefits as well as their duration. Whereas someone now needs between 180 and 300 hours of work to qualify for benefits, in future this figure will be between 420 and 700 hours.
Does the minister admit that, by doubling the number of hours required to qualify for benefits-or worse-in both high unemployment regions and others, he will exclude thousands of unemployed people from the plan, women and young people in particular, who will then have to turn to welfare?